independentist Carles Puigdemont plays his political destiny during Sunday’s elections in Catalonia

The early elections turned into a duel between the socialist candidate Salvador Illa, favorite in the poll, and Carles Puigdemont, the separatist still in exile who campaigned from the Pyrénées-Orientales.

Nearly 5.7 million Catalans are called to the polls on Sunday May 12 to elect their deputies. And for the first time in almost 15 years, the separatists could lose their majority. The outgoing president, Pere Aragonès, does not have a bad record but he has been eclipsed by Carles Puigdemont. The man behind the illegal 2017 referendum will soon be amnestied but he is still in exile and campaigned from Argeles-sur-Mer, near Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales.

Hundreds of independence activists crossed the border to attend their hero’s meeting. Carles Puigdemont has set up his HQ in the Argelès-sur-Mer performance hall. Monica Salas is one of his supporters: “Northern Catalonia is our home! It has always welcomed Carles Puigdemont very warmly. And so we are here to prepare for the president’s imminent return to the country!” she chants.

Not yet amnestied, Carles Puigdemont led his campaign remotely. But by leaving Brussels for the Pyrénées-Orientales, he reconnected with his voters. “We have been doing electoral campaigns from abroad for six and a half years. But this is the first time that I can do it in personunderlines the independence candidate. It’s true that we are on the other side of the border. But this border has disappeared and this feeling of being in direct contact with people, face to face, is very comforting!”

A more moderate speech

On stage, the man who organized the illegal referendum of 2017 plays the nostalgia card and presents himself as the one who was capable of defying Madrid: “They wanted us to resign ourselves, they wanted to scare us, to put us to sleep, they wanted us to give up. But that day, we defeated them. And they still haven’t digested ithe assures before adding: We will not let ourselves be governed from Madrid! Because we are not a branch, we are not a region. We are a nation, a thousand-year-old nation!” But basically, Carles Puigdemont has moderated his speech and no longer promises independence for tomorrow.

For his supporters, the trip to Argelès-sur-Mer has the feel of a pilgrimage. “For me, he is the best, the best president we can haveassures a woman who supports him. I hope to be able to take a photo with him, because I love him!” “He’s my president, complete anotherhe is the most important person in my life.”

“It’s not 2017 anymore”

But Carlos Puigdemont is not the favorite in these elections. According to polls, he should come in 2nd position, behind the socialist candidate. In Barcelona, ​​not everyone is necessarily waiting for his return and the independence fever has subsided, explains Albert Segura, documentary maker: “There is a fatigue of the conflict, we are no longer in 2017, 2018 or 2019, where we expected a return from the president with demonstrations… This is no longer the case, we are in another stage.”

“There is a very significant part of the separatists who feel betrayed, who no longer trust Carles Puigdemont, nor the rest of his political generation who were in power in 2017.”

Albert Segura, Catalan documentary filmmaker

at franceinfo

It was the socialist Salvador Illa who led the race in the polls. This trained philosopher wants to turn the page on the Catalan crisis: “They got their priorities wrong! Result, in ten years, we went backwards. There is a drought and we were not prepared to face it. In education, we are the last in Spain. And then the insecurity got worse.”, lists the favorite. Carles Puigdemont plays big on Sunday. If he fails to become president of Catalonia again, he has announced that he will leave political life. These elections will also have a national scope, because if the left regains power from the separatists, it would be a huge victory for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.